Egypt

The name Egypt conjures many images: an ancient civilization, the stunning pyramids and the dazzling Cleopatra, to name a few. Before you go, brush up on your Egyptian myths and read more about the early explorers of the Nile, from Richard Burton to Stanley and Livingstone. You might also want to grab an Arabic phrasebook or indulge in Agatha Christie’s classic Death on the Nile.

Follow the links below to see recommended reading for each destination.

Tarek Osman brings insight to this vivid report on Egypt over the 55 years since President Nasser took control of the country in 1954. Born and raised in Egypt, he tackles with insight the rise of Arab nationalism and radical Islam; the relationship between Muslims and Christians; and perhaps most important of all, the rift between the cosmopolitan elite and the undereducated and unemployed poor, more than half of whom are under 30. “Crucially,” Osman writes in the introduction, “there is not only a sense of confusion, resentment and rejection among the Egyptians — especially the younger ones, but increasingly an overarching feeling of an irreparable damage, a national defeat.

A Penguin Classics edition of The Histories in hand, Justin Marozzi journeys from Herodotus' home town of Halicarnassus (now known as Bodrum), to Baghdad, Babylon, Egypt, Athens and the Peloponnese, weaving tales of his hero with erudite and entertaining modern travel. He even stops to have lunch (and a good deal of Retsina) with the British author Patrick Leigh Fermor ("one of the finest writers in the English language") at his home in Kardamyli.